Being open or closed minded is a matter of perspective and is a pattern we learn throughout our lives. Thankfully though, for everything we learn, we can just as equally unlearn.
So if you have noticed some unhealthy, closed-minded thinking patterns within yourself (click here to find out what they are), today you will learn 5 NEW HABITS you can adopt to become more OPEN-MINDED.
5 HABITS TO BECOME MORE OPEN-MINDED
1. Learn to put your own “stuff” behind.
You have to separate yourself from what you think you know, and look at that new topic, idea, person, situation as if it were the first time you are encountering it. This requires separating yourself from your own agenda, your own pain, and your own past, and letting go of your biases and conditioned mindset, so that you can look at everything with a sense of newness and openness. This does not mean becoming naïve and believing everything new, it means deciding for yourself what it is you want to believe based on a clear, fresh, open mindset and not based on some idea you’re holding onto.
2. This requires a true sense of self-honesty.
Denial is not an option here. You have to be completely honest with yourself about whether or not you’re holding on to any “baggage” that is not allowing you to move forward in a more positive direction. Is your current mindset holding you back or is it helping you be a better person? Does it align with your values and with who you want to be? If you judge everything you encounter do you enjoy it, or are you just doing it because it makes you feel a false sense of power, strength, and intelligence by being able to label and “know” everything around you? You must be honest with yourself about these things!
3. Be willing to change your views once you come across a new idea that aligns more with what you value or helps you become more whole, despite it being socially accepted or different from what you have always believed.
This is a big one. Being open to alternative ways of thinking and looking at life is crucial to finding inner peace and freedom. If we keep limiting our beliefs to what we are told is “normal” to believe, or aligning our beliefs strictly with what can be proven physically, then we are cutting ourselves off from a realm that is full of infinite possibilities.
4. Have an open-heart.
Akin to having an open-mind, an open-heart means to approach life with an inner sense of openness. Can you look at everything that happens around you as an opportunity to learn something new? As an opportunity to grow as a person? As a challenge that is here to make you stronger? When your heart is open to the world, it accepts and understands that there is a higher purpose to everything. This makes you more patient and tolerant as a person because you know and trust that life is here to serve you.
5. Be willing to question everything.
Question your beliefs, your traditions, your behaviors, your routines, your mindset, your thoughts, society, norms, authority, the news and media, the food you eat, things you hear, things you learn, your definitions of success and happiness, the lifestyle you live, your motivations, your desires, your triggers, your fears, your prejudices; question EVERYTHING and LET GO of whatever ideas, beliefs, patterns, and behaviors you’re holding on to for inauthentic reasons.
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